


Waiting

by Lixon



Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Emotionally Constipated Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Fate & Destiny, Hurt Jaskier | Dandelion, Hurt/Comfort, Jaskier | Dandelion Has Feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-02 08:34:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23848252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lixon/pseuds/Lixon
Summary: It was the worst kind of deal, the kind that no one should have ever agreed to. But agree to it they did and because of it, Jaskier’s fate had been sealed long before he was born.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Comments: 4
Kudos: 50





	Waiting

It all started with a young girl who fell in love too fast. 

Everyone in the village knew about her, from her untidy curls to the mud that clung to the bottom of her dress. She was the closest thing to an outsider that the village had. Even though she was born and raised within the loose confines of their wooden huts and dirt paths, she seemed to be different from all of them. She did the same tasks as any other village girl did. She cleaned, she cooked, and she fed the livestock everyday. She hauled water to her home from the well deep within the woods. She did all of this with nothing more than a smile and a kiss to her mother’s cheek whenever the older woman warned her of the dangers outside. When she was a baby, her father, having been the village huntsman, had left one morning and never returned. Thus, she had only her mother and her mother only had her.

It was because of their closeness that the girl’s mother had been so vigilant. “Be wary of wolves, Helena.” Her mother had told her one morning. The family next door had sent their youngest son to fetch water and he had not returned within the day. Not a soul had whispered a word to the family when they insisted that he was running late. They all knew, of course, but would never dare to say. They all knew it wasn’t their place.

“Of course.” Helena replied, pressing a kiss to her mother’s cheek. 

And so the days had passed on; each sunrise and each sunset the same as the last. Brief moments of surprise would disrupt the rhythm of her quiet village life. Honey procured by her mother from merchants to sweeten her bread. The dog adopted from the woods to guard their chickens and catch pests. The tears of joy and sorrow when families both grew and shrunk. However, the village itself had changed. Its transformation had been sedate but steady, having started from a cluster of small huts and jagged fences. 

After seven winters, the village had grown into an adolescent town on the cusp of cityhood. The frail wooden huts of before had become studier wooden houses that could keep hearths warm; the meager livestock and farming that had been barely enough to sustain the people had become healthy and plenty, keeping stomachs full and hearts happy; the dirt paths formed by the people’s treading had become rough cobblestone, not as smooth as the likes of the larger cities, but a far cry from the mud that had been there in the years before. 

On Helena’s nineteenth winter, her mother had taken her aside with sadness in her eyes. “My sunshine,” she had said gently as she took her daughter’s hand within her own, “I have done everything in my power to protect you as every parent should, have I not?”

“You have!” Helena replied with amusement coloring her tone. “You’ve protected me from wolves, bears, and even the spiders at our floors!”

“Yes, that is true.” Her mother said with a frown tugging at the corners of her lips. “But I have something else that I must warn you of, and you must promise me that you will take heed and obey your poor mother.”

At this admission, Helena's amusement had faded. While her mother had given her plenty of warnings, she had never once asked her for her obedience. “Mother,” she said with a growing worry, “what is bothering you so?”

“My sunshine, we no longer live in a village. Everyday, a newcomer arrives and joins our humble community. I beg of you, no matter what happens to our village nor who happens upon our village, you will not fall in love.”

Helena, shocked by her mother’s request, could only nod mutely. In all her years, she had never once considered falling in love. The other girls in the village giggled and scoffed over love in equal measures, but between her dedication to her responsibilities and her desire to spend time with her mother, there was never any room for love of that kind within her life. She was no fool. She had seen the way some of the boys and men in the village had looked at her with a hunger in their eyes and something coaxing within their voices. But try as they might, none of them had dared to answer to Helena's mother when she turned her stern gaze to them.

“I promise.” Helena had uttered despite the stiffness in her shoulders. “Mother, I promise I will never fall in love.”

Her mother’s face relaxed as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders, but the sadness within her eyes did not diminish. “Thank you, my sunshine. You’ll understand someday.”

Helena had only nodded then, content to heed her mother’s request with no thoughts of love remaining in her head. All she needed was her mother and the home they shared, nothing more and nothing less. 

But within a few months time, she met the man who would change her mind.

The man had arrived on the wings of a storm that had ravaged the town. The streets were flooded and the people fretted over their leaking roofs and their muddied belongings. Helena and her mother had been fortunate enough to have their home settled upon the top of a hill wherein the water simply slid down. Despite their relatively protected home, they still needed materials to burn for their fire. It was on this dreadful day that Helena, in her rush to get to the market and purchase coal for their hearth, barreled into this man.

They had both fallen into the mud with their clothes soaked to their bones. Despite their shared misfortune, neither the man nor Helena were angry. They were enraptured with each other at first sight. The young man, having been raised within a nobleman’s halls, had recovered quickly and stood up. He offered Helena his hand without thinking. 

“My apologies!” He had blurted. “I didn’t see you there. If I had seen you, I never would have knocked you over like that. And--”

“It’s alright,” Helena laughed as she took his hand, “a little mud and rain won’t do a thing. My name is Helena. May I ask for yours?”

“Cedric,” the man had replied with a flush on his cheeks as he lifted Helena to her feet, “pleased to make your acquaintance.”

And so came the beginning of the end.

They met in secret at first; late nights and early mornings, before the people in the town awoke and after the people in the town went to sleep. They exchanged letters, gifts, and hearts all the same. Despite their efforts at hiding their feelings for one another, it didn’t take long for Helena’s mother to realize the truth one warm summer night. She had begged and pleaded with Helena to cease her relationship with Cedric, but unlike before, Helena refused to listen. She ignored her mother’s request and went a step further.

“I’m with child, mother. If you can’t accept us,” Helena had shouted with tears in her eyes and Cedric’s hand clasped within her own, “then we will leave.”

“Helena, you don’t understand. This is more complicated than just love. Love will bring you nothing but ruin. It will destroy whatever family you desire to build. Listen to me, please, my sunshine. Don’t leave.”

Helena shook her head and began to back away with Cedric in tow. “I’m sorry, mother.”

Cedric, having been silent throughout the entire exchange, had decided to speak. “Eleanor, I promise you nothing will befall us. I love Helena and I will do everything in my power to make our family happy.”

Eleanor shook her head wearily. “It’s too late. You don’t understand what will come. Nothing you do will stop it.”

Once the words escaped from her lips, the old woman collapsed to her knees like a puppet with its strings cut. She did not weep nor did she wail, but the tremble of her shoulders were more than enough to show Helena and Cedric her grief. “Our family...” She rasped. “Our family owes a debt, Helena. You’ll learn this soon enough.”

“What debt?” Helena shrieked. “What debt do you speak of, mother? Why have you not told me?”

Eleanor merely let out a quiet laugh. “I was young when I met your father, you know. I thought that love would be enough and that it would set us free. But I was barren, dry as bone. No matter how hard we tried, we could not have any children. And one day, a strange witch arrived. She was tall, thin, and smelled of mint. We promised her anything in return for a child. We were fools.”

Helena watched her mother in silent horror as something dark and wretched crept down her spine. When she felt the darkness caress her skin, her free hand drifted down to her abdomen.

“A witch?” Helena murmured as Cedric’s hand squeezed her own. “What did you promise her?”

“The son,” Eleanor whispered, “of my firstborn.”

It all started with a young girl who fell in love too fast. When her and her lover could not have children, they encountered a witch and had made a deal. Years and years would pass before this deal would be fulfilled, but even so, Jaskier's fate had been sealed.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I've decided to post something after almost four years of silence on this site. I absolutely love angsty fics and after reading so many wonderful ones here, I felt like I had to contribute something.


End file.
